Honnoji
'Honnoji '''1st appeared in Samurai Warriors. Games Samurai Warriors Usually a turning point in the stories of the involved characters, it ultimately determines Nobunaga's fate in the game. Mitsuhide's version of the battle has him deal with morale issues in his army and stresses the importance of setting the temple on flames. Ranmaru, bravely defending his master's position, will become a fierce opponent during the battle. In Samurai Warriors, the battle acts as the turning point in his story paths as he tries to prevent Nobunaga's escape from the area. If he succeeds, he continues to onto his upper path scenario. In Nobunaga, Ranmaru and Oichi's story, they fight through the Akechi army and have Nobunaga escape safely. Noh's version of the stage makes her an enemy of both armies after she kills Nobunaga's double. She then escapes to chase her husband. Other events, such as Keiji's fight against Goemon's thieves and Magoichi's final resistance take place in Kyoto as well. Samurai Warriors 2 alters the layout to have the shrine in the south and creates a maze of passageways to barricade the Oda army's position. Nobutada is put into focus as both forces will try to either save or slay him at the nearby castle. In Mitsuhide's version of the stage, Nō and Oichi give their lives to guard Nobunaga. Nobunaga's side of the battle has his vassals heavily surrounded and easily routed during the first few minutes of the conflict. He will either try to escape from the invasion or defeat Mitsuhide. In this title, Magoichi snipes Nobunaga and forces Mitsuhide to take the blame for causing the daimyo's death. The area also serves as the battlefield for Kyoto related events in the series. Musashi has to safely escort Hideyori through the city while annihilating the vagabonds, and the climax of the events is a duel with Kojiro. Another scenario has Yukimura, Keiji and others rescuing the struggling Mitsunari from the anti-Ishida coalition here, prior to Sekigahara. Kessen Kessen III shows the entire event through a series of cutscenes. During the game's first playthrough, the temple is attacked in a massive conflict during the opening movie. Nobunaga and Ranmaru hurry for the temple's lower exit and trigger various defense mechanisms during their flight. While the young man loses his life for his lord, Nobunaga's escape is blocked by an ominous figure engulfed in fire. The mysterious figure haunts Nobunaga with a riddle, saying that dreams are reality and reality is a dream, before the figure shoots the lord in the chest. Nobunaga tells Noh that he has had this dream since childhood and wonders if it foretells their fate. His dream becomes a reality later in his life yet his wife's loyalty saves him from death. He carries her wounded body and they escape together. The game's second playthrough details the events preceding the attack. Kicho, wanting to keep her childhood friend from betraying Nobunaga, stays with Mitsuhide. Yoshiaki criticizes her stay with Mitsuhide and pesters his suboordinate to take action. Mitsuhide, intent to make a world for him and her, imprisons her to prevent her interference with his assassination attempt. A ninja brigade sent by Hachisuka frees her from the castle's dungeon and urges her return to Kyoto. The rest of the events follow the first version of the cinematic. Devil Kings In this stage Mitsuhide betrays Nobunaga similair to other games. History Context Oda Nobunaga was at the height of his power, having destroyed the Takeda family earlier that year. He had central Japan firmly under his control, and his only rivals were the Mōri clan, the Uesugi clan, and the Late Hōjō clan, each weakened by internal affairs. After the death of Mōri Motonari, his grandson, Mōri Terumoto only strived to maintain the status quo, aided by his two uncles, as per Motonari's will. Hōjō Ujiyasu, a renowned strategist and domestic manager, had also died, leaving his less prominent son Ujimasa in place. Finally, the death of Uesugi Kenshin, arguably Sengoku period's most formidable general, left the Uesugi clan, devastated also by an internal conflict between his two adopted sons, weaker than before. It was at this point that Oda Nobunaga began sending his generals aggressively into all directions to continue his military expansion. He ordered Hashiba Hideyoshi to attack the Mori clan; Niwa Nagahide to prepare for an invasion of Shikoku; Takigawa Kazumasu to watch the Hōjō clan from Kozuke province and Shinano province; and Shibata Katsuie to invade Echigo province, the home domain of the Uesugi clan. At the same time, Nobunaga also invited his ally, Tokugawa Ieyasu to tour the Kansai region in celebration of the demise of the Takeda clan. Around this time, Nobunaga received a request for reinforcements from Hashiba Hideyoshi, whose forces were stuck at the Siege of Takamatsu. Nobunaga then parted way with Ieyasu, who went on to tour the rest of Kansai while Nobunaga himself made preparations to aid Hashiba in the frontline. He ordered Akechi Mitsuhide also to go to Hideyoshi's aid, and travelled to Honnō-ji, his usual resting place when he stopped by in Kyoto. The only people he had around him were court officials, merchants, upper-class artists, and dozens of servants. Akechi's Treachery Upon receiving the order, Mitsuhide returned to Sakamoto Castle and moved to his base in Tamba province. Around this time, he had a session of Renga with several prominent poets, where he made clear his intentions to rebel. Mitsuhide saw an opportunity to act, when not only was Nobunaga resting in Honnō-ji and unprepared for an attack, but all the other major daimyo and the bulk of Nobunaga's army were occupied in other parts of the country. Mitsuhide led his army toward Kyoto, claiming that Nobunaga wanted to show a procession. It was not the first time that Nobunaga had demonstrated his modernized and well-equipped troops in Kyoto, so this excuse was not doubted. Finally, when getting near to Honnō-ji, Mitsuhide announced, "The enemy awaits at Honnō-ji!" (''Teki wa Honnōji ni ari! 敵は本能寺にあり) Before dawn, the Akechi army had Honnō-ji surrounded in a coup. Nobunaga and his servants and bodyguards resisted, but they realized it was futile against the overwhelming numbers of Akechi troops. Nobunaga committed suicide, reportedly his last words were, "Ran, don't let them come in..." (Referring to his young page, Mori Ranmaru who set the temple on fire as Nobunaga requested so that no one would be able to get his head). Ranmaru then followed suit. His loyalty and devotion makes him a revered figure in history. Nobunaga's remains were not found, a fact often speculated about by writers and historians. After capturing Honnō-ji, Mitsuhide attacked Nobutada, eldest son and heir of Nobunaga. Nobutada committed suicide. After trying to persuade Oda vassals in the vicinity to recognize him as the new master of former Oda territories, Akechi entered Azuchi Castle and began sending messages to the imperial court to boost his position and force the court to recognize him as well. Reasons for the coup Akechi Mitsuhide's reasons for the coup are a mystery that has been a source of controversy and speculation. Although there have been several theories, the most common ones maintain that Mitsuhide bore a personal grudge, acted out of fear, had the ambition to take over Japan, was simply acting to protect the imperial court whose authority was not respected by Nobunaga, or was trying to remove the iconoclastic revolutionary. Many think it was a combination of at least some of the above assumed reasons. When Nobunaga invited Tokugawa Ieyasu over to Azuchi Castle, Akechi was the official in charge of catering to the needs of Ieyasu's group. Subsequently, he was removed from this post for some reason. One story spoke of Nobunaga yelling at him in front of the guests for serving rotten fish. Another story said that when Nobunaga gave Akechi the order to assist Hashiba Hideyoshi, it was somehow hinted that Akechi would lose his current territories and would have to fight for land which was not even under Oda control yet. As Nobunaga had sent two senior retainers under him, Sakuma Nobumori and Hayashi Hidesada, into exile for poor performance, Akechi might have thought that he could suffer a similar fate. Akechi was already in his early fifties, and some believe he might have felt insecure about such a grim future. Furthermore, when invading Tamba province, Akechi Mitsuhide supposedly sent his mother as a hostage into the hostile Yagami Castle to convince the Hatano clan to surrender. Nobunaga, however, had the Hatano brothers executed, an act that caused former Hatano retainers to kill Akechi's mother. Akechi Mitsuhide felt humiliated and depressed by this and eventually decided to kill his master. This story, however, only began to circulate during the Edo period, and is of dubious historical origin. Whatever the reason, before Akechi began his march toward Kyoto, he held a Renga session with several prominent poets. One line he said was as the following: Toki wa ima, ame ga shitashiru satsukikana. (時は今 雨がした滴る皐月かな) Literally, it meant "The time is now, the fifth month when the rain falls." However, it could also be taken to mean the following without changing a single sound: 土岐は今 天が下治る 皐月かな Toki, which means time, sounds identical to Toki, which was Akechi's ancestral family name. The whole phrase could be construed as "Toki shall now rule the realm under the sky". After the incident Quickly making peace with the Mori clan, Hideyoshi returned from the Chūgoku region within ten days. He quickly absorbed remnants of Nobunaga's army along the way, and met up with Niwa Nagahide and Oda Nobutaka in Sakai. Marching toward Kyoto, he defeated Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki, and Mitsuhide himself was killed while fleeing back to his castle. Ieyasu, at first touring Sakai, fled through several provinces and crossed the mountains of Iga, finally reaching the shore in Ise. He returned to his home Mikawa province by sea, and it took him so long that by the time he consolidated his position, Hideyoshi had already had most of Nobunaga's territories under firm control. Takigawa Kazumasu suddenly faced the assault of the Hōjō clan and lost most of his land there, a defeat that cost him his previous prestige in the Oda clan. Shibata Katsuie and his forces in the north were bogged down by an Uesugi counterattack in Echizen province, and remained unable to act for quite a while. He would later fall in the Battle of Shizugatake against Hideyoshi a year later. The fact that no one else had the chance, resources, or ability to act decisively ensured Hashiba Hideyoshi's supremacy and spiritual inheritance of Oda Nobunaga's legacy.